Glasgow Building Preservation Trust

05/08/2026

🥳 Its National Playday!

Every year, across the UK, Playday asks families, community leaders and everyone working with children and young people to promote and champion the importance of play. Last month GBPT and Sauchiehall Street Culture and Heritage District asked some of our friends out to play....you can see the results in our video!

You can find out more about Playday here: https://www.playscotland.org

Play Scotland The National Lottery Heritage Fund Scotland The National Lottery Heritage Fund PEEK - Possibilities for Each and Every Kid

05/08/2026

⚡️ The Glasgow Doors Open Days Festival programme is now LIVE – and bookings are open! ⚡️

Discover Glasgow for free this September.

Scotland's largest free heritage and community festival returns from 17–20 September 2026, inviting you to step – or wheel – behind the scenes of the city.
Explore 150+ fascinating buildings, hidden spaces, factories, theatres, museum stores, and architectural and cultural gems, many of which are rarely open to the public.

Presented by Glasgow Building Preservation Trust, the festival celebrates Glasgow's remarkable built and cultural heritage, bringing people together through shared stories, spaces and experiences.

Get ready for four exciting days of:
🏛️ Open buildings
🚶🏽‍♀️ Guided walks & talks
🎭 Performances, exhibitions & screenings
🙌 Hands-on workshops for all ages
🤹‍♀️ Family-friendly activities and more!

Our main Festival Hub returns to the Advanced Research Centre (ARC) at the University of Glasgow, where you'll find an inspiring programme of talks, children's activities and engaging discussions centred on this year's festival theme: 'Glasgow Goes Out: The Places That Made Us.' The full talks programme will be announced on 10 August.

We're also delighted to launch a brand-new Mini Festival Hub at Edward House, delivered in partnership with the Sauchiehall Street: Culture and Heritage District.

🎟️ Bookings are now LIVE!

Many events are free to drop into, but some require advance booking. Be sure to check the booking information on each event page to reserve your free place.
We can't wait to welcome you to this year's celebration of Glasgow's incredible architecture, heritage and culture.

Explore the full programme at https://www.glasgowdoorsopendays.org.uk/

Trailer:



Doors Open Days Scottish Civic Trust Glasgow City Council Glasgow City Heritage Trust People Make Glasgow Visit Glasgow

03/08/2026

We are looking for new board members to help shape the future of Glasgow’s historic buildings and heritage.

For over 40 years, we’ve rescued and repurposed buildings across the city, from The Briggait and Castlemilk Stables to Glasgow’s blue police boxes and Kelvingrove Bandstand. We also introduced Doors Open Days to the UK and continue to deliver the much-loved Glasgow Doors Open Days Festival every September.

No previous trustee experience is required. We’re looking for passionate people from a range of backgrounds, with particular interest in applicants with experience in finance, law or fundraising/philanthropy.

We especially welcome applications from people from minority ethnic backgrounds as we work to build a board that reflects Glasgow’s diversity.

Deadline for submissions: Thursday 3 September 2026 at 5pm

Find out more and apply: https://gbpt.org/home-2/vacancies/

30/07/2026

Tomorrow – Digging Deeper quick-fire talks from the River Clyde

Our Heritage Engagement Manager Ingrid Shearer will be one of eight speakers taking part in a series of quick-fire, ten-minute talks from people researching the history of Glasgow’s River Clyde in surprising and interesting ways.

The event is organised by Who owns the Clyde from The Empire Cafe and takes place tomorrow at The Briggait.

📆 Friday, 31 July, 6 –7.30pm
📍 The Briggait

Book a free ticket: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/digging-deeper-quick-fire-talks-from-the-river-clyde-tickets-1990071537540?aff=odcleoeventsincollection

A series of quick-fire talks from people researching the history of Glasgow’s River Clyde in surprising and interesting ways.

27/07/2026

Interested in the work we do?

Make sure to stay up to date with all the latest news at Glasgow Building Preservation Trust by subscribing to our quarterly newsletter.

We’ll provide you with updates on our work across the city from our capital projects, engagement programme to Glasgow Doors Open Days Festival and more!

Click the link to subscribe: https://lp.constantcontactpages.com/sl/rC2rIU8

16/07/2026

🙌 A huge thank you to everyone who joined us for our Sauchiehall Street Weekend of Play last month.

Across, Sauchiehall Street, Garnethill Multicultural Centre and Garnethill Park, kids and families enjoyed a fantastic array of multisensory fun and play activities exploring the cultural and natural heritage of the area.

Kids were encouraged to test their balance, carve stones, listen to the secret sounds of trees, score a film, ‘play the Pyramid’, try some Tutti Frutti ice cream, ‘tune in’ to Tenement Radio and make their own Mackintosh-inspired tiles.

The project was commissioned by Glasgow Life presents as part of the Animating Sauchiehall Street project, supported by the The National Lottery Heritage Fund Scotland.

Thank you to the funders, project team, volunteers, artists, supporters, and everyone who made it happen!

Photos: Christopher Bowen

17/06/2026

Kids! We want you to take over Sauchiehall Street!

Join us for a weekend of fun games and play activities exploring the senses, and stories of the street. Test your balance, listen to the secret sounds of trees, score a film, try some Tutti Frutti ice cream, impersonate a pigeon and make your own tile!

📅 Saturday 27 and Sunday 28 June

⏰ 11am–3pm

🗺️ Sauchiehall Street & Garnethill Park

All activities are FREE to attend.

Drop-in sessions available, but please note, some session must be booked in advance.

Visit the link for more information about activities, times and booking.
Adults allowed (if well behaved!): https://bit.ly/49TBLxj

This event is a part of the Weekend of Play programme, organised by Glasgow Building Preservation Trust and the Sauchiehall Street: Culture and Heritage District. Our work is kindly funded by the National Heritage Lottery Fund.

04/06/2026

🗄 Opening the Archive: Heatherbank Museum of Social Work

We are delighted to see this piece in The National, the result of a year-long labour of love by Neil Ballantyne of the Open Polytechnic in New Zealand and Glasgow Caledonian University archivist Heather Panayiotaki.

GBPT, social care charity IRISS and the Scottish Council for Archives have supported the project, which emerged from a series of webinars for Glasgow Doors Open Day in 2024 exploring the Home Children movement in Glasgow.

That collaboration led to a second project, examining the impact of the pioneering, but now largely forgotten, Heatherbank Museum of Social Work in Milngavie. Led by Neil Ballantyne, the team secured funding from the Open Polytechnic to open up the Heatherbank archive, now held at Glasgow Caledonian University.

📩 We would be delighted to hear from anyone who has recollections of the museum, whether as visitors, former volunteers, neighbours or family and friends. Please contact [email protected] with the subject line 'Remembering Heatherbank'.

Read the article here: https://www.thenational.scot/culture/26157134.scottish-home-became-worlds-museum-social-work/

Iriss Scottish Council on Archives Open Polytechnic Glasgow Caledonian University

22/04/2026

✨Save the dates – Glasgow Doors Open Days Festival (GDODF) will return from 17–20 September 2026!

Organised by Glasgow Building Preservation Trust since its inception in 1990, the festival has grown to be Scotland’s largest free celebration of architecture, heritage and community, welcoming thousands of visitors each year to explore the stories, buildings and cultural spaces that shape our city.

This year, expect 120+ open buildings and a packed programme of walks, tours, workshops and family‑friendly activities — all completely free.

This year’s theme, ‘Glasgow Goes Out – The Places That Made Us’ warmly looks back on shared life in the city, celebrating how Glaswegians, city visitors – and all those who’ve called Glasgow home – have come together over the last hundred years to relax, express themselves and feel part of something bigger.

From grand cinemas, tearooms and bandstands to dancehalls, artist‑led spaces, grassroots music venues and legendary club nights, this nostalgia‑fuelled theme invites visitors to explore – or return to – the places that have made generations feel alive, day and night.

📩 Would you like to Participate in GDODF 2026?

We welcome expressions of interest from all kinds of organisations, including community and volunteer groups, heritage and walking‑tour guides, council‑owned buildings, private building owners and cultural organisations.

🚨 Participant Application Deadline - Monday 8 June

Visit the Glasgow Doors Open Days Festival website to find out more: https://glasgowdoorsopendays.org.uk/

Images:
1. Sophy Louise Illustration
2. Tiu Makkonen

Glasgow Doors Open Days Festival Doors Open Days

20/04/2026

🐟 Event coming up: 'Mon The Fish! - Celebrating the Return of Salmon to the Clyde'

The Govan Stones Project are hosting our Heritage Engagement Manager Ingrid Shearer and Dr William Yeomans of the Clyde River Foundation for an inspiring event on the remarkable recovery of the Clyde from the impacts of industrialisation. Expect a mix of folklore, archaeology and history exploring the city's relationship with the river and its fishy inhabitants.

Find out about the environmental significance of the return of salmon to the river in 1983 ('one of the greatest good news stories in the history of freshwater biology'), and progress made over the past forty years.

📍 The Govan Stones, Govan Old Church
📆 Sat 25th April, 1pm
Free entry, coffee and biscuits available!

This event is funded by The National Lottery Heritage Fund Scotland and Glasgow City Heritage Trust